Mustache goods a growing trend

Jeremy Eckhart, left, Jaxon Bryant and Heather Newton show their fake mustaches in Las Cruces, N.M., which was named the 27th most mustache-friendly city in the U.S. by the American Mustache Institute.

ROBIN ZIELINSKI/Las Cruces Sun

Jeremy Eckhart, left, Jaxon Bryant and Heather Newton show their fake mustaches in Las Cruces, N.M., which was named the 27th most mustache-friendly city in the U.S. by the American Mustache Institute.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) – Suddenly, they seem to be showing up everywhere.

Mustaches are trending so strongly that the hirsute fashion statement is boldly going where it has never gone before. On infants’ pacifiers, for instance. And on temporary tattoos. Apply one to your index finger, and with a quick gesture, you can join the ranks of the mustachioed any time.

A six-pack of stick-on famous artists’ mustaches ranges from a salt-and-pepper Rembrandt to a fiery red Vincent van Gogh.

In fact, some mustaches are so famous that no images are necessary: A name will suffice to conjure the ’stache style. Consider the list of “Top 10 Most Famous Moustaches” on TopTenz.net: Fu Manchu, Tom Selleck, Adolf Hitler, Groucho Marx, Yosemite Sam, Gene Shalit, Charlie Chaplin, baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, surrealist artist Salvador Dali, and someone whose mustache is more famous than his name: Badamsinh Juwansinh Gurjarhis, who spent 22 years growing a 12.5-foot-long mustache, in an attempt to set a world record.

What’s the attraction? Several mustachioed guys will give you a quick, practical answer: “It beats shaving.”

Others may be convinced they are a babe magnet, with some justification.

“I love mustaches. I even liked them as a teenager. My husband Tony has a white mustache and goatee,” said Patti Gruessing of Las Cruces. Hal Fore had a long relationship with his.

“I had a mustache for 40 years. I remember I still had it when I took a wonderful trip to Paris. Then, I just decided I wanted to see my face. I shaved it off and people said I looked younger,” Fore said.

“I like the way it looks and it’s easier with the right trimmers,” said Robert Ramirez of Las Cruces, who said he has experimented with many kinds of facial hair, including embedded designs, with the help of Robert “Boomer” Burkhartsmeier of Zucos Barbershop.

Las Cruces was named the 27th most mustache-friendly city in the U.S. by the American Mustache Institute, which reportedly considered such factors as “large first responders pool (law enforcement, fire and rescue, EMTs); motorcycles, monster trucks and ATVs per capita; and restaurants serving pork rinds and pickled meats per capita.”